Posted on 04/29/2006 7:27:04 PM PDT by wagglebee
Cherie Blair provoked surprise in the Vatican and the ire of a Roman Catholic MP yesterday by wearing all-white to meet the Pope, a privilege normally reserved for Catholic Queens.
The Vatican convention is that females meeting the Pontiff should wear black, preferably with a black veil, or mantilla.
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When the Queen met Pope John Paul II six years ago, she observed the code meticulously.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, wore black, but omitted the veil.
By contrast, Mrs Blair, a staunch Catholic, chose to exercise the "privilege du blanc", usually granted only to the wives of Catholic monarchs.
Her breach of the protocol was surprising, since she has kept closely to the Church's dress code in the past.
Mrs Blair may not have worn a hat to the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales but she mourned the passing of John Paul II in a mantilla.
Technically, only three women should wear white in the presence of the Pope.
They are Queen Sofia of Spain, Queen Paola of Belgium and Josephine Charlotte, the wife of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg. Queen Sofia exercised her privilege in a meeting with the previous Pope in 2003.
Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory minister and a convert to Catholicism, was scathing about Mrs Blair.
"Even the Queen wore black to meet the Pope," she said. "This shows that she has a very grand idea of herself.
"She is a Catholic. She knows what the tradition is when meeting the Pope.
"She obviously thinks she is the first lady.
"My message to her is 'You are not a Catholic Queen, my dear, and you never will be.' "
Mrs Blair was in Rome for a Church-organised conference entitled "Vanishing Youth? Solidarity with Children and Young People in an Age of Turbulence".
She was invited as an expert and remained afterwards for a private meeting with the Pope. A spokesman for the Vatican declined to reveal what they had discussed.
Ping.
I guess the new chaps and a clean duster wouldn't go over well there either.
I think she did it herself. There has been massive speculation that Blair has secretly converted, maybe this is her way of letting the Pope know.
A follower of Henry VIII.
Even Jesus didn't tell His followers what colors to wear(at least it wasn't important enough to be recorded).As long as one dresses modestly ,that ought to be enough.Jesus was not about pomp and ceremony,and the Roman Catholic Church concerns itself too much with appearances and ceremony and too little with preaching the Gospel.
I feel quite confident the Pope did not care in the least.
He is not a petty man.
Golly. Did it burn out il Papa's eyeballs?
I sorta like women in white, myself. And I still have 20/20 vision.
Man...I love that pic...classic Cheney.
He's what people call in Florida... a gitter done.
...So does that mean Andrew Sullivan's allowed to wear white if he ever gets an audience?
IIRC, under British law, Blair cannot remain PM if he is not a member of the Church of England, but I may be wrong about that. I do know his children are Catholic and that a Catholic priest says mass for his family which he attends every week. It would not surprise me if he does convert. However, if his wife wanted to let the Holy Father know that he had converted, why not just tell him.
Bump.. and agree with your comment!
Best Vice President ever!
This "blunder" needs to be in breaking. /not
Who needs it? Silly man-made affectations. I support most of the Catholic church's positions but meaningless foofarah like this is why I would probably never be one.
Apparently, he has surrounded himself with loads of them....
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